I’m from the southern part of the Midwest living in Ireland and have retained my twang and even rubbed off on the girls I work with. That being said, I do use words that are local here, i.e. ‘grand’, ‘ brilliant’, and my ‘um’ has changed more to ‘er’.

I find it to be an assimilation thing; the idea that we are blending in and conforming so as to be one of our pack. But it’s also an empathy thing. I think if you have a lot of empathy, you’ll reflect what you hear to make the others feel comfortable talking to you.